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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Clinch River Again

I took advantage of another opportunity to hit the river again. We were having a birthday bonfire for my mom and on the way I stopped by the river for a few hours. In recent trips there have been heavy sulfur hatches, but today not a mayfly was seen. So, the number of rising trout was also non-existant, and I needed to rethink my approach. I chose to head immediately to some previously productive slow runs and fish nymphs. After fishing hard for 30 minutes without a strike, I saw something that concerned me. While fishing one of the runs, I saw a whole school of carp swim past heading upstream. Taking from memory, I don't recall ever having much success with trout when carp were present. This made me change my tactic, so I tied on an olive slumpbuster and started stripping it through fast moving runs. I immediately started hooking into fish, but was having difficulty landing these fish with the added force of the current. About 2 hours into the morning and I was still fishless and started to get frustrated. I chose to rethink my approach and tied on a double nymph rig with a balloon indicator and fished deep moderately swift runs. I instantly hooked into the chunky 16" bow seen at right. This fish with the assistance of the current and 7x tippet almost took me into my backing a couple of times before finally slipping him into the net. Only managed one more 12" bow before the wife radioed saying she was getting uncomfortable and ready to leave. In summation it was a much slower day compared to my other recent trips, but that one big bow made the day. Any trip between now and delivery day is just a bonus, and then after the baby comes it will give me time to replenish flies lost during these last few weeks.

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I Am A Fishing Fanatic

An engineer by day, you will find me at my desk or at home dreaming about my next fishing adventure. My favorite method of pursuing the various species that inhabit my East TN waters is with a fly rod, but I can be found flinging hardware with a baitcast or spinning reel. I began flyfishing around 1995 at an age of 15, and learn something new each trip. I enjoy the time outdoors with friends and family, and I especially value the time I have with my wife and kids fishing and camping. My job can be a hectic one, and I have found that the most effective escape I have from the stress is to pick up a rod and disappear for a while. I have two wonderful kids who enjoy being outdoors with daddy whether it be hiking, hunting, fishing, or whatever journey we are on at the time. I look forward to taking both of my kids fishing and hunting, and trying to be as good of a father to them as my dad was to me. This blog is my attempt at documenting the various experiences we have, and to record them for my kids as they grown older. God Bless and Tight Lines.